Trump suspect’s son arrested on child porn charges
(NewsNation) — The son of the man accused of trying to kill former President Donald Trump was arrested this week on child pornography charges.
Oran Alexander Routh was charged with possessing and receiving child sexual abuse material after federal authorities searched his home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
An FBI agent in court papers said the agency found hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse during its investigation. Law enforcement officials located videos sent to Oran Routh in July and chats from a messaging application commonly used by people who share child sexual abuse material, the agent said.
“These files include videos from a known child pornography series created outside the state of North Carolina,” court documents say, according to NewsNation partner The Hill. “Videos from the series depict minors engaged in sex acts.”
ABC News was the first outlet to report on Oran Routh’s arrest. He is the son of Ryan Routh, who on Sept. 15 allegedly pointed a rifle through a tree line at Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where the former president and GOP presidential nominee was playing.
That incident marked the second apparent attempt on Trump’s life to take place during the 2024 presidential campaign season. Unlike the first assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, authorities say Routh did not actually fire a weapon.
Ryan Routh, 58, appeared in federal court Monday on a pair of gun charges, where he was denied bond. Prosecutor Mark Dispoto said the Justice Department will ask a grand jury to bring a more serious attempted assassination charge against Routh.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.